Clemson Tigers

Texans trade up to draft Deshaun Watson at No. 12

Published Jun. 30, 2017 6:28 p.m. ET

Sports Illustrated, SI Wire/Sports Illustrated

The Texans traded up in the draft to select Clemson’s Deshaun Watson at No. 12.

Houston dealt with the Browns to select Watson as their next franchise quarterback, after dealing Brock Osweiler to Cleveland earlier this year.

Cleveland selected defensive end Myles Garrett with the first pick in the draft.

Chris Burke says: There are concerns over experience (or lack thereof) with other top QBs in this year’s draft. No so with Watson, who declared for the 2017 NFL draft after making 35 starts for Clemson, 30 of which came the past two seasons—the Tigers made back-to-back ACC championship game and college football playoff appearances, losing to Alabama in the 2015 title game but knocking off the Tide in ’16. In those two games vs. Alabama, Watson threw for a combined 825 yards, seven touchdowns and one interception. Watson finished third in Heisman balloting as a sophomore, before nabbing runner-up honors last season, behind Louisville’s Lamar Jackson. He did twice win the Davey O’Brien Award, presented to the nation’s top quarterback. For his Clemson career, Watson completed 67.4% of his passes for 10,168 yards, 90 touchdowns and 32 INTs, plus rushed for nearly 2,000 yards.